The present invention relates to multipurpose mopping sponges and, more particularly, to a sponge assembly which includes both a mopping element and a scrubbing element.
Sponges, either synthetic or natural, have long been used for mopping surfaces and absorbing liquid. Many of these sponges have been assembled with a synthetic scrubbing element bonded to one surface. For example, one such sponge is a rectangular shaped block with one of its major faces covered by a mesh type material. For normal mopping, an exposed sponge face is brought into contact with a surface but when scrubbing is necessary, the sponge is inverted and the mesh material brought to bear on the surface. Of course, whatever material is being cleaned from the surface is brought into contact with the user's hand through such inversion.
The user can be somewhat isolated from contact with surface material by attaching the sponge to a handle. A number of short-handle sponge assemblies are commercially available. With a longer handle, the assembly becomes a floor mop. In a typical floor mop, the sponge is attached to a backing plate which precludes being able to invert the sponge. The scrubbing element may be attached to the backing plate by a separate holding mechanism so that inverting the mop assembly lifts the sponge from the floor and places the scrubbing element in contact with the floor. An exemplary form of such a floor mop is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,750.
While use of the floor mop in an inverted position does not expose the user's hands to dirty material from the floor in the same manner as a hand-held sponge, having to invert the mop, scrub to remove material, revert back to the sponge to mop the removed material and determine if more scrubbing is necessary is both inconvenient and time consuming. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a sponge assembly useful as a hand-held cleaner or in a handled mop which overcomes the need to invert the assembly between scrubbing and mopping.